In-Between the Lines
by icdeadppl
Summary: When Zoey wakes up in the dark, she has no idea what has happened to her and trusts a gut feeling on where to go, which leads her to the U.N. building. In doing so, she has ignited a secret kept from not just herself but other children and the nations too. Just who is Zoey? Does it have something to do with the documents America has just received? First Arc of "Born of Nations"
1. You

_Hi everyone! This is a story I've been dying to get posted up for forever! Not terribly much happens in this chapter but it introduces you to the main character, Zoey, and the beginning of many MANY events about to take place involving the Nations. This is a separate universe than my State stories, the states won't show up in this one (AKA they don't exist in this universe :P). I've had the idea for a while but thought it was to outlandish until I read some other stories on here involving 'Nationlings' and finally got the courage to write down the idea. __I really hope you enjoy it._

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia but I do own my OC's and the story idea._  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

Zoey opened her pale violet colored eyes and blinked in the darkness. Her room normally wasn't this dark, even late at night she could see Konrad's hallway Superman light glowing for him to see where the bathroom was in the crack of the door. Traffic lights from the nearby highway, the screeches of fire engines and police cars as well as Liam's snoring were always audible too in the tiny bedroom she shared with her older sister, Lyn. She squinted; even her hand in front of her face wasn't see-able. Zoey felt the rising feeling of panic set in and her breath quickened. Within this time, two things occurred to her:

1. She was not in her room.

2. And she had no idea how she got here.

Now shaking, Zoey cautiously moved off what felt like the hardest bed in the universe and as she slipped off her hip connected with something hard and she squeaked. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow ow!" she whimpered, rubbing her bruising hip. Carefully now she reached a hand in front of her and moved slowly around the room, not even quite sure what she was looking for. Zoey nearly slapped her forehead. Oh yeah, light switch. Duh. Trailing her hand along the walls her hand finally brushed against something switch-like and she pulled, praying she didn't end up like Yzma*.

Light suddenly flooded the room and Zoey recoiled from the brightness. After recovering from the light, she finally saw the room she was in. It was no bigger than a small guest room, only with no windows and painted a stark white. The bed she presumed she had been in looked like a hospital bed with no covers (Which explained why it was so hard!). Next to it was a small table that must have been what she banged her hip into and Zoey had to choke back a scream when she saw what was on it. A huge needle, empty of whatever had been in it laid there ominously as if mocking her by being there. Just what had she gotten herself into?

Looking down, she realized she was still in her street hockey clothing she'd worn to school; Vancouver Canucks jersey, tan shorts but her shoes were gone (Although her navy blue socks were still on of all things).

Zoey closed her eyes, muttering words her sister would have washed her mouth out with soap at hearing and leaned against the wall as she tried to remember what had last happened to her. She'd left Lyn and Konrad at the house after school to play with the neighborhood kids in a friendly street hockey match. Avery hadn't been there because he had the flu so Will had filled in for him on their team. She remembered that but everything after was blank. Did they even win or lose the game? She had no idea. Yet one feeling inside of her was speaking loud and clear, an instinct normally buried under logic and reason: **Run. Run NOW**.

* * *

The world meeting was not going smoothly but of course that was completely normal. England and France were attempting to murder each other for the third time that day, America was pissing off the rest of the world without even (probably) realizing it and Russia was scaring everyone within twenty seats of him with his freaky aura of his. Normal. Even the passed out Latvia. Of course for regular old supposedly _normal_ humans, this was the weirdest, insanist, craziest meeting they'd ever seen. A quiet, studious looking woman slipped into the room, eyeing everything with slight trepidation. She quickly hurried over to the boisterous American, sidestepping the wandering hands of a Prussian as she made her way across the spacious room.

In her hands was a manila folder and she tapped America's shoulder, gaining his attention. "Sir, you said to give you any more information as soon as we got it." She whispered, handing the folder over to him. He blinked before realization and a hint of anxiety crossed his blue eyes.

"Oh thanks Sandra." She raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging to herself and slipping out of the room just as quietly as she had come in.

"Ve~ What's that America?" asked Italy, poking his head over the younger nations shoulder in an attempt to look at the folder.

"Nothing." America's voice was suddenly deeper and ice-cold, prompting the turning and staring of numerous nations. He ignored the looking of the nations and quickly scanned the enclosed documents.

"English is confusing, what does it say?" This time Italy was ignored as the American got whatever information he needed out of it and closed the folder back before stuffing it into his jacket pocket.

"…America…?" whispered England, worriedly gazing at America who was staring blankly at the wood table, lost in thought. Just a few moments ago he'd been shouting about 'superheroes' and such yet that document…just what had been in that could make America go serious like this?

* * *

Zoey dashed down the street, feeling disgusting as her only sock clad feet splashed in murky puddles. No matter how disgusting-"Ouch!" she jumped for a moment as she felt something dig into her feet. Okay no matter how disgusting AND painful it was she had to keep moving. It had been a miracle feat in of itself that she got out of that warehouse. Zoey had hallways been small, a thing that had irked her since she was in fifth grade and looked like in first grade with Konrad. Yes she was that small but right now she was thanking those small genes from whoever on Earth her parents were. That vent had been cramped but at least she was free, God knows where but free. She was certainly not dressed for this freezing, windy, rainy weather if she was to state the smallest of her problems.

Brushing away her blond curls, she skidded out of the alley and on to the sidewalk. Very few people were walking around and if they were they had umbrellas and were ignoring her. With the dark suit clad people and tall buildings with marble entry ways, it was a given she was no longer in at least the rural side of San Francisco. Subconsciously she walked down the street, glancing over her shoulder every few moments to see if the men who had taken her had noticed she was gone. Zoey stopped in front of an imposing building, staring in through its clear doors. This one felt different…in a weird way, safe. Thoughts of Liam came to mind, he'd once described something like this before; the feeling of knowing this is where you needed to be and that everything would be okay there. Of course she'd been trusting gut feelings ever since she came to so why stop now?

Zoey trudged up the steps and opened up the heavy doors, nearly falling over in the process. The entryway was clean and well white. All marble and distinctly smelled like the teachers break room at school, of coffee and Febreeze (The lemon scented kind to be specific). A woman sat at the front desk and was typing away at the computer._"What am I doing?! They'll kick me out! A little kid with no shoes in an uppity place like this?"_ she thought, slowly making her way to the front desk. The woman glanced at her for a moment before continuing to type. Suddenly she paused; apparently her brain just computed Zoey was there and the lady jumped up wide-eyed.

"Uh…" started Zoey, trying to find the words to say in a situation like this. "…hi."

"My God! Are you alright?!" the woman yelled, quickly swerving out from behind her desk to face the little girl. No shouting for security, maybe that gut feeling was right (Again). The woman gasped. "You're bleeding!" It was Zoey's turn to pause and stare at herself. A tiny pool of blood surrounded each of her feet but she didn't know why; there wasn't any pain.

"Erm…not sure how that happened…" The woman stared at her, as Lyn would put it, incredulously. "Um…I kind of woke up without my shoes. Would you believe me if I said I was kidnapped?" Another blank stare.

"Wh-why did you come here?! This isn't a police station!" _**That**_ was all she could think of?

"It felt right. This building. I got a safe feeling from it and I trust this feeling." The adrenaline was wearing off and exhaustion, hunger and fear was coming back strong. Zoey felt the tears start rolling down her cheeks.

"A safe feeling…?" The woman pondered before seeing Zoey start to cry. "Oh! Oh please don't cry! Shh! Shh! It's okay; It's okay!"

The little girl was now full-out bawling. She was lost and alone and all of that was hitting her now. Zoey'd never been separated from her siblings before, Liam and Konrad and Lyn and everything began crashing down as she sobbed. The woman took her in her arms, lifting her off the ground in a gentle hold but it provided no comfort. Where was she? Why had she been taken? Were her siblings okay? Zoey hiccuped as a last question filtered through her foggy mind: What was going on?

* * *

_And that was the first chapter of In-Between the Lines! Tune in for an update soon (Hopefully)!_

*Yzma as in from the Emperor's New Groove who Kronk always pulls the wrong lever on and makes her get attacked by Alligators (Or Crocodiles I don't know they look alike)


	2. Must

_Ciao everyone! Sorry I've been so busy lately but hopefully this really long chapter will make up for it! Thank you to **bluebacon** for reviewing! To answer your question, Zoey's just turned 10 as she'll state later in this chapter! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Also a thank you to all those that favorited, followed, and even just viewed my story! It makes my day! Now, enjoy the next chapter!  
_

_Check out the poll on my account please! It's actually one that I really need to see the results for! Thank you!  
_

_**Disclaimer:**_ _**I don't own Hetalia or its characters but I do own my OC's**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Must**

Sandra Adams had seen a lot of strange things in her life. She worked for nations for crying out loud! But never had she seen a little girl come into the U.N. building, hurt, scared and completely trusting a 'feeling' that she'd be safe there. Sandra had taken the crying girl into the break room and called the custodian to clean up the blood trail. The poor girl had stepped on broken glass and it was deeply embedded into the soles of her feet. How she'd even be able to stand, especially without noticing the pain, shocked Sandra. "What's your name sweetie?" she asked, gently tossing the torn navy colored socks into the trashcan. The girl sniffled.

"Z-Zoey…"

"Zoey? Alright then Zoey, I'll need you to stay here for a minute or two until I get back, alright?" The pale blond haired girl slowly nodded. "Don't get up okay. You still have glass in your feet."

"…okay." Sandra gently pushed a stray lock of hair out of the girls face and tucked it behind her ear. She was so tiny, so scared but she had to get the first aid kit for her feet. She stood up, exiting the room but not before peeking back in to look at Zoey again. How could any parent let their child get hurt like this?! Closing the door she walked across the entryway to her desk, rummaging through its lower cabinets. It should have been right at the front…just where had she-Sandra could have kicked herself. She'd used the first aid kit to patch up France after another bout of fighting between him and England and had left it in Japan's care in case they started up again. Sandra looked back at the door where Zoey was in. She didn't want to leave her for long but…

Quickly the young woman dashed down the hall, rather easily even though she was wearing heels and slipped into the main meeting room. The nations were really not getting much done, which worked out fabulously in her favor. Sandra stepped over to Japan who was sitting uncomfortably next to America, apparently having recovered his spirit and spouting about 'Robots' and 'Saving the world!'.

"Uh…Mr. Honda, sir?" she said catching his attention.

"Ah hello Adams-san." He said, giving her a small 'Sorry for the way my fellow countries are acting' smile.

"Mr. Honda, may I please have the first aid kid back please?" A small look of confusion passed the Japanese mans features.

"Oh _hai_, of course. Is someone hurt?"

"Yes I'm afraid. A little girl came in and she has well glass in her feet."

"A little girl? What is a little girl doing here in the business district?"

"I am afraid I do not know Mr. Honda. She says she was apparently kidnapped and felt safe here." Japan looked even more confused as he reached down by his chair to pick up the first aid kit.

"That is odd. I hope she will be alright." Taking the kit from Japan, Sandra nodded.

"Yes, I'll be calling the police as soon as I patch her up. They'll likely know where her parents are." He nodded. "Thank you Japan."

"_Iie, iie._" Sandra left the room as quickly as she came, stepping into the silent lobby. At that moment, the door to the U.N. building opened up with a loud ding from the bell as two police officers entered. Now that she thought about it, why hadn't she heard Zoey when she came in? Shaking her head, Sandra turned to the cops and gave her usual business smile even though she was trying not to laugh. One of the cops was as thin and tall as a rail while the other was pretty short and a good bit chubby. It reminded her of Disney movies with the bumbling idiot 'lackey's'. Of course these were cops, likely here to find Zoey.

"Good afternoon ma'am. We're searching for a little girl. She got separated from her folks around here. About six years old, short blond hair, and pink-blue eyes. She's a bit hard to miss." Said the shorter man. Sandra hadn't been south of Richmond often but she knew a southern accent when she heard one and his was forced. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and warning bells rand in her head. Something wasn't right.

"What would a child be doing here on this side of town?" A movement behind the officers caught her attention, a door opening. Zoey poked her head out and saw the cops talking to Sandra. Fear that no child should have for police officers crossed her face. She desperately shook her head at Sandra, eyes blown wide.

"She was supposed to be with her father at work but apparently he lost track of her on the way when he got a call." Zoey made crossing motions with her arms. She pointed at the cops and then motioned to her chest, pointing at her right side then back at the cops again. Sandra quickly glanced at the cop's chest. It was just his badge…wait. What was it doing on that side? In most standard's it was on the person's left, the way the D.C officers usually had it at least.

Fake.

Zoey was telling her they were fake cops. Just what kind of trouble had this child gotten into? "No officer I'm afraid I haven't seen a little girl. I would have called if I had seen one." The portly man nodded.

"Well is it alright if we checked around a bit?" said the skinny guy, his voice high pitched almost comically.

"I'm afraid not sir. This is a U.N. Building so I would have to get permission from the President." Both men paled at the mention of the national leader. "I truly would have called the police if I had seen a child and I assure you our staff would as well." Both fake cops nodded, slowly inching back away from her desk.

"Ah alright ma'am. If you see her," The smaller man took out a card and handed it to her. "This is my work number and we'll get her home safe." If there had been any doubt in Sandra's mind that they were legit cops, it was gone. It was well known you called the Center for Missing and Exploited Children's hotline, not a police officer's personal work number. Thank God she didn't mention Zoey.

"Will do sir." Zoey took that as her cue to sneak back into the room and closed the door as the officers turned. Sandra stayed in place until they had left and she could no longer see them walking down the street, then she picked up the phone and pressed the number that directly dialed security. After talking to Stan for a minute, she hung up and went into the workers break room where Zoey was, closing the door behind her. Even though she'd told the little girl not to get up she was still standing, staring at her.

"You didn't get lost like they said you were, did you?" She shook her head, pale blond curls falling out of the messy ponytail. Sandra gently picked her up and placed her back on the couch.

"No m-miss. T-th-hey took me…I-th-think…everyth-thing's blurry…" The older woman nodded opening up the first aid kit. "Umm…" Sandra looked over at the girl, who was nervously looking anywhere but at her.

"Yes Zoey?"

"..Do you re-really have to get permis-mission from the president to search here?" Sandra smiled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"I really don't know…maybe I should ask if that's a rule or not…?" A small smile cracked on the little girls face and Sandra sighed in relief as she pulled out the bandages and tweezers.

* * *

Sandra carefully bandaged Zoey's feet, as Zoey attempted to figure out just what had happened. Of course, she was terrified, had people pretending to be cops' looking for her, and no idea what had actually happened before waking up in a unknown room that it was understandable why her brain wasn't functioning right at the moment. "There, all done!" Sandra said, standing and throwing away the paper towel she'd put the bloody glass shards on. Zoey shifted her feet, wiggling her toes. It felt like they weren't there but obviously they were. Sandra gently leaned down, picking her up and into her arms as she continued trying to get feeling back below her ankle. "Zoey, how old are you?" Zoey looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. My age? She wants to know my age?

"Ten Missus Adams." Confusion crossed Sandra's eyes and Zoey bit the inside of her cheek from laughing. "I know I-I look young-er but I've alw-always been small…" Sandra nodded, still looking a little bewildered and walked out of the room into the lobby. Apparently some meeting had just let out for lunch and a lot were loitering around waiting for others so they could go eat. Hopefully no one would-

"Ve~ Who's the _bambina _Sandra?" …see them. A loud man with a funny curl bounced over to coo over Zoey who tried to hide herself behind Sandra which was hard to do when you're being carried. Really hard since the lady didn't want her to move much because of her feet.

"Erm…this is Zoey Mr. Vargas." Mr. Vargas said a flurry of Italian words including "Bella" "Bambina" and "Poca" a lot as Zoey blushed as he hugged her. He reminded her of Dalia with her use of Italian nicknames, although she preferred it to curse more. Suddenly he stopped talking, his eyes shooting wide open as he saw her feet. Whoa. His eyes were like gold! Is that possible?!

"_Mio Dio_! What happened to the _poca bellezza_?!" This shout attracted the attention of a scary-looking blond man, who quickly began walking over and another man with a funny curl who was shouting explicitives in Italian as he and this grinning man came over.

"What's wrong Ita-I mean Feliciano?" asked the blond, quickly interrupting himself from whatever he was about to say.

"The _poca bellezza_ is hurt!" All eyes turned to Zoey, who promptly squeaked and attempted to hide further from the their attention. Seriously, she hated being stared at on a good day let alone when she'd been kidnapped.

"Hey shh…it's okay…" Sandra awkwardly attempted to comfort her. She wanted Liam here holding her, he'd know what to do…

"_¡Ay no!_ _Chiquita_ don't be afraid!" said the smiling man, beginning this weird 'fusososo' chant thing and moving his hands weirdly that Zoey began giggling in moments. He looked ridiculous. "See! We're friendly!"

"What's a kid like her doing here?" asked the scowling other man, raising an eyebrow at her with olive green eyes.

"W-where is here?" she whispered. There were way to many adults, all paying attention to her. To say she was out of her zone was an understatement.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you! You're at the U.N. building in D.C." Hear. Pause. Listen to repeat in head. Comprehend.

"D.C.?" Oh please let her be wrong. It just stands for some small town or something like Des Cruzar or something…was that even a real town? Zoey had no idea as she gulped nervously.

"Yes, Washington D.C. the capital of America." Shit.

"B-but isn't that on the E-east coast?" Sandra raised an eyebrow at her as the other people there exchanged looks.

"Well yes of course. You are on the East coast." She stared at the lady without blinking for at least a minute before looking at her feet.

"Zoey _si_? Where do you live?" asked Mr. Vargas, a look of worry in his eyes. Something told her that wasn't normal. She paused for another moment before mumbling.

"What was that?" asked the blond man, making Zoey squeak.

"C-California! I live in San Francisco!" Then she felt the hot tears start to fall down her face again as her view became blurred. The East coast? D.C.? Feet, I've a feeling we're not in California anymore*.

"Ve! Don't cry! Oh please don't cry!"

"I-I want my big brother! I want Liam! B-Big brother!" She was a sobbing mess, gaining the attention of virtually everyone in the vicinity now but Zoey didn't care anymore. Subconsciously she recognized being placed down in one of the sofa seats as several people try to comfort her but she kept crying out for her big brother. She wanted him here; Liam would do something stupid to make her laugh and say exactly what she needed to hear. Evelyn would hug her tight, combing her fingers through her hair. Konrad would just sit there until she'd calmed down a bit and then say the most random line that would make her laugh. Zoey wanted her family.

"Bi-big brother…" She hiccupped then suddenly smelled chocolate. Looking up through tear filled eyes to see a steaming cup of what looked like hot chocolate being held in front of her.

"Here. Drink." Curtly said a blond haired man with a funny white hat. Shaking, Zoey took the cup and just held it. "It is safe. Drink." Cautiously she took a sip.

Oh. My. God.

Zoey began to quickly drink, not caring if it was scalding her tongue. It was heaven! "There, I told you it was fine." Said the man, his scowl never leaving his face.

"Thank you Mr. Zwingli!" sighed Sandra in absolute relief. The man nodded, standing up from where he'd been kneeling in front of her.

"Hey what's going on out here dudes?" shouted a loud blond man walking out of a room with a largely browed man, a rose carrying guy and-dude was he invisible? She could've sworn she saw another man come out of the room-oh there he is by the loud guy. Evelyn and Konrad knew how to do that too but Zoey honestly didn't care right then, she was too busy drinking the best hot chocolate of her life.

"Calm down America. A little girl came in and was injured." Said the blond, serious man from earlier.

"Huh?" The man, weirdly named after a nation, stared at Zoey as she nervously kept her eyes on her cup.

"She's from San Francisco; from what's been happening and what she says I believe she was kidnapped." Sandra said, gently running a hand through Zoey's blond curls. She paused mid-sip. It really was odd to think she was a kidnap victim, like poster of her face at Walmart and an Amber Alert. It seemed so fake, something that wouldn't happen to someone like her.

America as he was apparently called looked suddenly worried as he crossed over to kneel in front of her like Mr. Zwingli. For some weird reason he seemed to be taking this to heart.

* * *

"So what's your name?" America asked her, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. This was one of his citizens, one of his people who was hurt and scared. He hated when his people were scared! He was the hero; he should be able to protect them! The little girl gulped and it wasn't because of the drink she had in hand.

"Z-zoey…" He smiled at her.

"Well Zoey do you have a last name to go with your pretty first?" She flushed and nodded.

"Francisco. Zoey Francisco."

"Like after the city?"

"Mhm. I'm a-a foster kid and no one knows who my par-parents are so they just gave me and my siblings the last n-name Francisco." She was a foster kid? America bit his lips to stop himself from cursing.

"Alright Zoey Francisco, I'm Alfred F. Jones." He held his hand out for her to shake.

"I t-thought your name was America?" …Shit. Every country in the vicinity paled and Germany looked ready to smack himself in the forehead.

"Uh…it's a nickname. My real names Alfred." The little girl slowly smiled, her body not shaking as much as it had been.

"I see why you go by A-America." He laughed as Zoey shifted nervously.

"Yeah it's a bit old fashioned but it's my name. So do you want to tell me what happened?" Zoey grew quiet looking at the floor.

"…I can't." America raised an eyebrow. Were they blackmailing her or something? "I wa-want to but…I don't remember." She shook her head. "Everything's s-so blurry…" America frowned, sharing a look with Sandra who nodded.

"Hey that's okay. You look starving though, wanna get something to eat?" Zoey nodded, albeit slowly, but she did nod. At least she had an appetite. "There's a cafeteria down the hall, a lot of us eat there. Want to have lunch with us?" Zoey stared at the outstretched hand and America knew within moments it would take more than a smile and being nice to earn this child's trust.

"It's alright Zoey." Said Canada, quietly putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. America and the other nearby nations all jumped, not noticing the Canadian had been there but oddly Zoey wasn't startled at all. "You can trust Al, he's a big brother and wouldn't want his siblings hurt just like I'm sure your big brother wouldn't want you hurt." The little girl stared at his brother, although she probably had no idea the two men were related, for a couple of moments. Actually…with the two standing next to one another America couldn't help but notice how much they looked alike; Same pale, wavy blond hair and quiet disposition. Her eyes were what threw him off. Pink at the bottom and blue at the top, an odd mix but it looked really nice on the little girl.

Canada smiled down at her and one would think they were having a silent conversation. An agreement seemed to be made and Canada turned to look at America, his violet colored eyes unreadable.

Zoey turned her own two-tone gaze back to the American nation and slowly, cautiously took his hand.

* * *

_I'll take a moment and introduce Grant (Short one) and Boris (Tall one) who are minor villains. Why minor? They aren't really bad but misguided. They will show up in virtually all of this story and the other parts of "Born of the Nations" series. Grant always tries to fake an accent (Southern, Cajun, German, Italian, etc) but fails. Boris is the one that comes up with the fake costumes that are usually easily distinguishable from whoever they are actually trying to be (I.E. badge on wrong side of uniform, inside out Pizza delivery outfit, cable repairmen that reads that they're plumbers, etc). My sister compares them to Jasper and Horace from 101 Dalmatians but they're pretty different. I hope you enjoyed! _

* "Toto I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" Great quote!


End file.
